ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) oriented strategies have become desirable among individual and institutional investors in recent years, corresponding with qualities desired by entrepreneurial employees, investors and community stakeholders. Consistent with a long-term, value-creating orientation, entrepreneurs forgo immediate rewards and devote enormous resources to advance their vision. It is this group that the research paper studies.
In recent years, considerable attention has flocked to smart beta strategies with investment managers applying reweighting schemes to peer benchmarks. In this research paper, we introduce a proxy factor for quality of management by creating and rigorously testing a founder-CEO index relative to a comparative benchmark that includes many of the same holdings. The spirit behind this selection stems from developing academic research, emerging fund managers who specialize in this expertise, and the investment logic supporting the hypothesis that If leadership does indeed matter, it would most likely occur with a founder CEO.
Not unlike a poker game, in business, it’s important to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ‘em. Most corporate Chairmen know when it’s time to leave, though a handful, such as founder-billionaire Sumner Redstone, sometimes overstay their welcome. Mr. Redstone’s tough lessons, learned late in life, have been on full display while company control issues have slowly been sorted out. This research paper covers the case study of Summer Redstone to explain when is the right time to fold your cards.
2014 was an off-year for many Forbes billionaires’ stocks. As a group, our Index of 575 publicly traded Forbes Billionaires–those on the list who created or inherited a preponderance of their wealth from a publicly-traded company–generated less return than their peers. US Billionaires earned about 9% last year and Non-US Forbes Billionaires performed even worse. They actually lost about 1%. But 2015 seems to be shaping up much better. In this research paper learn more about billionaires residing across the world and how to benefit from their success.
When Alibaba went public on Sept 19th, Jack Ma rocketed to the top of China’s richest with a net worth of $18 billion and a placement among the world’s wealthiest. Not bad for a former schoolteacher. And though he blazed a distinctive trail with his online network, his approach follows the same basic path as every other legendary entrepreneur. The truly great ones think three steps ahead. This pattern usually makes them rich—even filthy rich. But the rest of us can benefit too. This research paper explains how you can remain a step ahead by staying a step behind.
No question investors have been growing weary of low yielding fixed income funds. This is especially true in light of Fed expectations to slow bond purchases later this year portending a rise in interest rates. So where should savvy investors allocate discretionary cash? Should they seek an investment more exotic than a basic S&P 500 Index? Would now be an opportune time to consider an investment overseas? Perhaps. In this research paper, learn about the safer ways of investing in emerging markets.
Americans celebrate the success of the world’s billionaires. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, we can’t seem to get enough of them. We follow their words on Twitter ngIf: ticker TWTR +0.11% end ngIf: ticker, track their daily wealth, and immortalize them in films. Most earn their keep through unique insight and perseverance. But plenty hide an ugly truth. Let’s call it the dark side of entrepreneurship. This research paper highlights the risks and gains of investing in US and Non-US public equities controlled by Forbes Billionaires.
As most investors know, 2013 was a banner year. Leading indices such as the S&P and Russell had stellar returns. But true to historical patterns, a basket of publicly traded “Entrepreneurial” companies did even better. How much better? A US All Cap composite generated more than 45% and a US Large Cap composite of entrepreneurs soared above 55%. Benchmarked against the S&P 500’s 32%, this was a significant out performance by any standard. How could this be? This research paper covers how entrepreneurial companies have outperformed non-entrepreneurial companies historically.
Capital markets have enjoyed a strong rally year-to-date (YTD) in 2013 with gains in the 15%-20% range. This comes on top of double-digit returns for 2012. On the other hand, Fed policies are threatening to come to an end and a potential war in the Middle East could send stocks plummeting. Investors are now struggling with the dilemma of whether to protect YTD gains or gamble on future appreciation. Should investors just cash out now while they are ahead of the game? Given all the tumult, along with September’s historically negative performance, what’s a savvy investor to do? This research paper explains the difference between the performance of bureaucratic companies and entrepreneurial companies.
Domestic job growth is beating analyst forecasts, the S&P 500 stock index is at an all-time high, and all seems well in the economic world through early May. Want to know who is leading the charge? Once again, it is our entrepreneurs. In this research paper learn more about the benefits of investing in entrepreneurial companies vs non-entrepreneurial companies.
